Saint Josemara Escriv

Founder of Opus Dei

PRAYER O God, through the mediation of Mar y our Mother, you granted your priest St. Josemara countless graces, choosing him as a most faithful instrument to found Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfillment of the Christian's ordinary duties. Grant that I too may learn to turn all the circumstances and events of my life into occasions of loving You and serving the Church, the Pope and all souls with joy and simplicity, lighting up the pathways of this earth with faith and love. Deign to grant me, through the intercession of St. Josemara, the favor of ... (make your request). Amen. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

"Your daily encounter with Christ takes place right where you work, where your aspirations and your affections are. That is where we must seek sanctity, in the midst of the most material things of the earth, serving God and all humankind. Heaven and earth seem to merge, my daughters and sons, on the horizon. But where they really meet is in your hearts, when you strive for holiness in your everyday lives...."
St. Josemara Escriv, from the homily: Passionately Loving the World, October 8, 1967. Saint Josemara Escriv was born in Barbastro, Spain, on January 9, 1902. He was ordained to the priesthood in Saragossa on March 28, 1925. On October 2, 1928, by divine inspiration he founded Opus Dei. On June 26, 1975, he died suddenly in Rome, after a final affectionate glance at a picture of our Lady in the room where he worked. At the time of his death, Opus Dei had spread to six continents with over 60,000 members of 80 nationalities, serving the Church with the same spirit of complete union with the Pope and bishops which Saint Josemara Escriv had always lived. The Holy Father John Paul II canonized the Founder of Opus Dei in Rome on October 6, 2002. His liturgical feast is celebrated on June 26. The body of Saint Josemara Escriv rests in the Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace at Viale Bruno Buozzi 75, Rome. Learn more about Saint Josemara Escriv at: www.josemariaescriva.info www.escrivaworks.org www.opusdei.org Those who obtain favors through the intercession of Saint Josemara Escriv are asked to notify the Prelature of Opus Dei, Office for the Causes of the Saints, Viale Bruno Buozzi 75, 00197 Rome, Italy. With ecclesiastical approval.